Pokémon Go Team Go Rocket leader counters in March 2023

Pokemon Go has its own version of the infamous Team Rocket, dubbed Team Go Rocket. In this Pokemon Go Guide, we’ll break down how to find Rocket Guides Sierra, Cliff and Arlo and take her down.

Below we list their parties and strategies that are effective for them March 2023 after last month’s Team Go Rocket Takeover event, activated as part of the Cracking Voltage event.

This is especially useful when you’re still completing Go Tour Hoenn’s Chasing Legends research, where defeating a boss is a prerequisite for the penultimate step.

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How to find Sierra, Cliff and Arlo in Pokémon Go

For members of Team Go Rocket see hot air balloons fly over you or from glitchy, black PokeStops. Every time you defeat one, you get one Mysterious component. After you get 6 Mysterious components that combine into one missile radar, which allows you to find a random leader. The three leaders are Sierra, Arlo and Cliff.

Some timed research and Team Go Rocket special research tasks require you to beat all three leaders. Completing the Team Go Rocket special research will reward you with a Super Missile Radar, so you can find the boss Giovanni. If you defeat Giovanni, you will get a Legendary Shadow Pokémon.

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Team Go Rocket leader Sierra counters

Image: Niantic

Sierra can have:

• Beldom (Steel/Psychic)
• Sharpedo (water/dark)
  lapras (water ice)
  flygon (Ground/Dragon)
• dogom (dark Fire)
  Alakazam (mentally)
  Crazy (grass/dark)

Depending on what she has in her party, we recommend using Ghost, Darkness, or Fighting-type Pokemon. Sierra’s part is potentially the most diverse of the three, making it harder to go up against certain Pokémon types. If you find out what she uses, you might need a different Pokémon type for each of her Pokémon.

We recommend using the following, but be careful what Sierra uses as these are not effective against all available options:

• Macchamp with counter and dynamic punch
• triangle with bite and brutal swing
• darkrai with Snarl and Dark Pulse
• chandelier with hex and shadow ball
• Gengar with lick and shadow ball

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Team Go Rocket leader Arlo counters

Image: Niantic

Arlo can have:

• Nidoran (poison)
• He croaks (Poison/Flies)
  steelix (steel/soil)
  Powerful (rock/grass)
• Charizard (fire/flying)
  shear (Beetle/Steel)
  Armaldo (stone/bug)

Most of Arlo’s party is weak to Water- or Fire-type moves, which we strongly recommend using. You can try the following, but keep an eye on the type advantages and swap them out accordingly:

• Kyogre with waterfall and surf
• flooded with water gun and hydrocannon
• royal with bubble and crab hammer
• Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare
• Charizard with Fire Spin and Blast Burn

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Team Go Rocket leader Cliff counters

Image: Niantic

Cliff can use:

• magnetite (electric/steel)
• Venusaur (Grass/Poison)
  granny star (rock/water)
  think (Insect)
• Sharpedo (water/dark)
  Tyranitar (rocky/dark)
  camerupt (fire/ground)

Cliff’s team is largely weak to Fire, Grass, or Water moves. You can use many of the counters we recommend against the other two leaders against him, but again you’ll need to check his group to make sure your counters line up as he can have quite a diverse group.

We recommend using one of the following:

• Kyogre with waterfall and surf
• flooded with water gun and hydrocannon
• Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare
• Charizard with Fire Spin and Blast Burn
• Venusaur with Razor Leaf and Frenzy Plant
• torterra with Razor Leaf and Frenzy Plant

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Tips for Team Go Rocket leaders

When battling the front runners, keep these tips in mind:

• They will use their shields on the first two charge attacks you use. Using a Pokemon that can quickly charge up and use Charged Attacks will help you get rid of its shields, allowing you to freely damage it.
• You should be prepared for the first Pokemon you use to be KO’d. If you’re using a Pokemon that easily pierces shields, that’s fine, but your other Pokemon need to have decent type advantages to defeat any remaining Pokemon.
• Remember that you can attempt the fight many times with a rocket radar, so you can queue up your strongest Pokemon just to see what the leader is carrying. If you beat them on the first try, great! If not, you can swap out your party for some type-effective counters.
• The team leaders have high CP Pokemon, so you should definitely use the highest CP Pokemon you have when you’re struggling.